The Woman Awake: Feminine Wisdom for Spiritual Life

When former Catholic nun Regina Sara Ryan set out to find the feminine side of God, she didn't exactly expect a face to face meeting. But as she began to approach exemplars of feminine spirituality, she found herself invited warmly into the world of the Divine Feminine. In Woman Awake, Ryan recounts her experiences with 24 great women from across the spiritual spectrum: Joan Halifax of Zen, Irina Tweedie of Sufism, Mother Tessa Bielecki of Christianity, Lalitha of Baul tantra, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, plain old humanitarian. Whether it be the path of service, solitude, art, the body, or the warrior, each woman manifests the Divine Mother in a unique and challenging way. Ryan, a tireless seeker, sees these women's lives and teachings in the light of wider spiritual and women's concerns while also weaving separate patterns of female deities and past masters, such as Tara, Kali, Hildegard, and Mirabai. As Ryan points out, waking up is a fearsome confrontation with our own complacency. Woman Awake sounds the alarm. --Brian Bruya